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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Water

"We human beings are only a part of something very much larger. When we walk along, we may crush a beetle or simply cause a change in the air so that a fly ends up where it might never have gone otherwise. And if we think of the same example but with ourselves in the role of an insect, and the larger universe in the role we’ve just played, it’s perfectly clear that we’re affected every day by forces over which we have no more control than the poor beetle has over our gigantic foot as it descends upon it."

- "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden

In this book, the protagonist geisha describes herself as having a personality with a great deal of water. It’s an interesting concept because water is a clear liquid without which we cannot survive. It can put out fires, yet at the same time it destroys silk. It can take the form of any vessel that contains it, yet at the same time if the pressure is enough, it can break that vessel.

Adaptation is essential for survival. And a certain degree of water in one’s personality is essential for adaptation. I think everyone has a bit of water in them. We must learn to flow along with and not against those external forces we have no control over. However, we do have the ability choose which seeds we stumble across to nurture into flora. This has nothing to do with religion. Each of us has our own concept of what can crush the beetle. It may be destiny, or a god, or even one’s self, depending on what each person believes.

Sometimes you’ll find that as much as you may try to fight it or prevent it, certain things happen that are unexpected and far from your original plan. But you must quickly adjust, or your foothold will be lost, and you’d be swept away by a merciless river like a rigid, lifeless log into the ocean, despite the amount of water you have within.

It's something that I have to learn to stop fighting against. It's hard not to be in control of everything at all times, isn't it?

2 comments:

Hmmm, well you have to careful, when we mean adaptability. Adaptability is right, when it comes to a race for survival, which humans are highly capable of and thus survived history. But a changing when it pertains to going against ones conscience rather whats right/correct in larger perspective isn't correct.

I didn't say anything about going against one's conscience. Our conscience influences the choices we make. Hence the line "...we do have the ability choose which seeds we stumble across to nurture into flora."